Scott and The Run to Live hit Nike Running Canada's social media feeds!

Mayor Proclaims February 2nd as The Run to Live Day in Peterborough

City proclamation pays tribute to successful cross-country run by Trent University student Scott Cannata and his team

Trent University student Scott Cannata started The Run to Live in St. John’s, Newfoundland on May 1, 2011. After completing over 200 marathons, over 8,500 km and across 10 provinces, Mr. Cannata finished his journey on January 16, 2012 in Port Renfrew, BC.

“Therefore be it resolved that I, Daryl Bennett, Mayor of the City of Peterborough, do hereby proclaim February 2, 2012 as Run to Live Day in the City of Peterborough and congratulate Scott Cannata and his team for their efforts to make cancer history,” proclaimed His Worship, Mayor Daryl Bennett on Thursday, February 2, 2012 at the homecoming event held at the Trent Community Sport and Recreation Centre at Trent University.

Starting out in St. John’s, Newfoundland on May 1, 2011, Trent University student Scott Cannata faced a daunting task – to run the equivalent of a marathon a day across Canada in support of cancer research. Mr. Cannata and his team have raised funds close to $40,000 through the Run to Live which has been supported by the Canadian Cancer Society.

Members of the Trent University community are encouraged to leave messages of congratulations for Scott and the Run to Live team on their official Facebook page: www.facebook.com/theruntolive. For more information regarding The Run to Live, visit www.theruntolive.com.

Whitby man returns home after run across CanadaRun to Live raises about $40,000 for cancer research

Mr. Cannata's Run to Live campaign, which carried him across Canada on foot, chasing an ambitious dream to raise money for cancer research, has come to an end.

Throughout the ups and downs of his journey, which kicked off last May in Newfoundland and wrapped up in British Columbia on Jan. 16, the 25 year old says he never once doubted that he and his crew would make it to the finish line. "There's a certain obligation I put upon myself to see this through to completion for everybody who we were representing so it was never a question of 'Can I do this?'" says Mr. Cannata, who grew up in Durham, attending elementary school in Whitby and high school in Pickering.

"But during the really hard days when the weather wasn't on our side, and I was psychologically at my lowest, the question, 'How am I going to do this?' did pop up."

Mr. Cannata launched the Run to Live in September 2009 as a tribute to his mother, a cancer survivor, and his grandfather, who lost his battle with the disease about six years ago. After extensive training, Mr. Cannata set a goal to run a marathon a day, traveling east to west across Canada, and persuade every Canadian to contribute $2 to the cause. They managed to raise about $40,000.

His support team -- compossed of his girlfriend Meghan Baird and dog Myikka, as well as friend Sabrina Benzinger and cousin Keith MacNeil -- followed him in a truck and trailer every step of the way.

None of them could have predicted some of the roadblocks they would come across, from countless vehicle-related setbacks, including 18 flat tires, and fluctuating temperatures in every city of every province.

"When we got to Regina at one point, I was running ahead of the girls who were behind me on the Trans-Canada Highway and nothing was out of the ordinary, but then the back window of our truck was hit by a rock and it exploded," Mr. Cannata recalls.

"Sometimes we had to take two days off because we were getting things fixed on the trailer."

During his 202 marathons, Mr. Cannata was forced to keep up with the constantly changing weather conditions, which went from a scorching 44 C in Quebec to a chilling - 31 C in Saskatchewan.

"We had a 75-degree difference in the Celsius within the same fundraising run, which is crazy to think about, but welcome to Canada, I guess," he says with a laugh.

On one particularly snowy day in the Prairies, it took Mr. Cannata six hours to run about seven kilometres, when he can normally run an entire marathon in just four hours.

"It doesn't seem realistic but I was in a whiteout condition and my crew had to drive ahead because there was no safe spot for them to follow me," he says.

"I was in the ditch dodging cars that had been sliding off the road into the ditch and I was in snowshoes and full winter gear with a backpack of supplies."

The highlight of the trek, Mr. Cannata says, was the opportunity to connect with hundreds of people across the country who have been touched by cancer.

"When I talked at schools, I was actually quite surprised that there were kids coming up to me sharing their stories," he says, recalling how one boy in B.C. approached him and explained that his mother was currently battling cervical cancer.

"That hit pretty hard because he's in the same situation I was in with my mom so I just told him he needs to be strong for her."

Deborah Cannata, Scott's mother and a Whitby resident, admits she was shocked at first when she heard about his intention to run across Canada but then remembered who she was dealing with.

"You've got to know him to understand ... he's always been very active and a caring person so when he said he was going to do it, I said, 'Yeah you will.'"

She adds that she was aware of the profound impact her battle with cervical cancer in 1998 had on her then 12-year-old son.

"His sisters were so young they didn't realize what was going on and I was a single mom in and out of hospital all the time so he became the man of the house and had to really grow up quickly," she says.

Ms. Cannata's friends raised money together for her to fly to the west coast and run alongside her son for the end of the Run to Live -- a memory she will cherish forever.

"That moment when he stepped into the Pacific Ocean was one of many proud moments in my life as a mom."

Mr. Cannata says he hopes he can inspire others to pursue their own goals, no matter how unattainable it seems at first.

"Everybody who we connected with along the way was able to see that it was just three of us out on the road battling unforeseen circumstances every day, not to mention a marathon nearly every day of the trip for me on foot," he says.

"But we still persevered and made it to the end and I think that's a very important message."

Welcome home

Scott Cannata and his team are back after running across ten provinces and raising nearly $40,000

(PETERBOROUGH) During the last eight-and-a-half months, Scott Cannata has run the equivalent of more than 200 marathons in an effort to raise money for cancer research.

On Thursday afternoon (Feb. 2), the Peterborough community welcomed him back from his run across the nation - The Run to Live. The fundraising trip raised nearly $40,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society.

Family members, university staff and the area’s political figures thanked Mr. Cannata for his efforts, and for the inspiration he spread throughout Peterborough and the rest of the country. In honour of his journey, Mayor Daryl Bennett announced the proclamation of Feb. 2 as The Run to Live Day in the City of Peterborough.

“You are in many ways an ambassador of all that is great about our country,” Mayor Bennett told Mr. Cannata during the ceremony, noting he’s instilled a hope for a cure for cancer across the Canada.

“For that I thank you. In fact, we all thank you.”

According to Mr. Cannata, the trip wouldn’t have happened at all without the help of various community supporters and the encouragement from people who watched him run across 10 provinces.

“It takes a team, it takes a community, it takes belief,” he says. “This is not just about me this is about us. And I don’t mean us as in my team. It’s about everyone sitting here today, it’s about everyone in Canada, and it’s about everyone in the world, ultimately.” Mr. Cannata and his team, which included two friends, a Husky, a trailer and truck, set out on their journey May 1 from St. John’s, Newfoundland. From there, he ran through rain, snow and high winds to reach Port Renfrew British Columbia –– a trip of more than 8,500 kilometres. When his team had to go ahead on a daunting stretch of road in the Rocky Mountains, they attached a note to his back that read: My name is Scott. I am running across Canada....In case of emergency please call - with a phone number. But even when it seemed unmanageable, Mr. Cannata said he felt supported from coast to coast.

“The three of us, and our quirky canine, couldn’t have done it alone. We needed you, and you were there,” he told the crowd. Everyone is capable of making a difference, Mr. Cannata says, and if the road ahead seems difficult, try.

“Cancer is a disease that is relentless,” he says. “But as the Canadian Cancer Society like to say, so are we. So we took that with us out on the road.”

A grand welcome home for Local Hero Scott Cannata

With standing ovations and cheers from the community, local hero Scott Cannata and his "Run to Live" team were welcomed home today.

The gymnasium at the Trent University Athletics Centre was packed with well-wishers and cheers to celebrate Scott's successful run across Canada that saw him face all types of weather conditions, 21 pairs of shoes and even the odd flat tire; and all in the name of raising money for cancer research.

The Honourable Mayor Daryl Bennett officially proclaimed today, February 2nd, 2012 as "Run to Live Day" here in Peterborough, presenting a commemorative plaque to Scott as a tribute for successfully completing his cross Canada run, and even went as far as to say "Scott is the Wayne Gretzky of marathon athletes."

Scott's "Run to Live" began on May 1st, 2011 in St. John's, Newfoundland and saw him run more than 8,500km across 10 Canadian Provinces, the equivalent of 200 marathons. His journey finished up on January 16th, 2012 in Port Renfrew, British Columbia.

The "Run to Live" campaign raised more than $40,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society and cancer research.

Cannata called a hero

Trent University student Scott Cannata was called a Canadian hero, an inspiration and a remarkable athlete on Thursday after recently completing a cross-Canada run and raising $40,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society.

Politicians, dignitaries and a crowd of about 150 greeted Cannata with a standing ovation, hugs and well-wishes during a ceremony at Trent on Thursday that included speeches and a slideshow about his journey from Newfoundland to British Columbia.

Cannata went through 21 pairs of running shoes to complete his 8,500-km journey, which translated into running a full marathon a day for 8 ½ months.

“Scott you must be one stubborn bugger,” said Trent athletics director Bill Byrick, causing loud laughter from the crowd.

“Scott has truly become the Wayne Gretzky of marathon athletes.”

Mayor Daryl Bennett

Byrick praised Cannata’s big heart in completing the journey to raise money for cancer research and support programs.

“The world needs more Scotts,” Byrick said.

Cannata, also a Trent athletics staff member, started The Run to Live in St. John's, N.L. on May 1 and completed his goal on Jan. 16 in Port Renfrew, B.C.

The slideshow showed Cannata at various points in his journey including in Halifax, Quebec, Toronto and at Trent U. before heading to Thunder Bay, Saskatoon and Kelowna.

Photos showed him running in the rain on impossibly long lonely highways, running through golden wheat fields in the Prairies, and roads approaching his run through the Rockies.

Former Peterborough MP Peter Adams said it was an amazing physical feat.

“Imagine running 7 to 8,000 clicks and then boom, there’s the Rockies,” he said, again drawing laughter from the crowd.

Adams told the story of how Cannata’s team ¬– his girlfriend Meghan Baird and his friend Sabrina Benzinger – couldn’t get the truck up one area of the Rockies, so they sent him off alone with a note pinned to his back bearing an emergency number to call lest Cannata hurt himself or passed out.

MPP Jeff Leal also praised Cannata, saying the $40,000 will help researchers find new cancer treatments and hopefully a cure.

“It’s truly an honour for me to be with you today,” Leal said at the podium before giving Cannata a hug.

Mayor Daryl Bennett proclaimed Feb. 2 as The Run to Live Day in the City of Peterborough during the Trent ceremony and called the run a “heroic effort.”

“Scott has truly become the Wayne Gretzky of marathon athletes,” Bennett said.

The Canadian Cancer Society doesn’t typically support cross-Canada fundraising runs because many don’t complete the journey, said Lyndsey Fullman, fundraising co-ordinator at the local branch.

But Fullman said the local branch knew Cannata would complete the run.

“The Canadian Cancer Society is very proud of you,“ she told him.

Cannata was the last to take the microphone, saying it took a team and a community to accomplish the goal.

“It’s not about me, it’s about us,” he said. “Cancer is relentless but as the Canadian Cancer Society likes to say, so are we.”

NOTE: Scott Cannata has told The Examiner he was inspired to run after cancer hit his family, including his mother, who was diagnosed with cervical cancer when he was 12…. You can still make donations to Cannata’s campaign. Visit www.theruntolive.com for more information or to donate online.

Run to Live

On Jan. 16, Port Renfrew welcomed Scott Cannata, fifth from left, and his entourage into the community. Cannata embarked on an incredible journey from St. John’s Newfoundland on May 1, 2011 running 42 km/day, across Canada to raise money for cancer research. He ended his run on the beach in Port Renfrew in a snow storm, running into the Pacific Ocean with his grandmother, second on right, at his side. For more information go to Scott’s web site @ www.theruntolive.com.

Chex TV - January 31, 2012

Scott Cannata

After 8 and a half months, and many running shoes...Scott Cannata has completed his run across Canada. Meaghan Roy spoke him, to see how the journey went.

Chex TV - January 27, 2012

Scott Cannata Runs to Victory on the West Coast “The Run to Live” team celebrates the finish of a remarkable cross-country marathon through 10 provinces

Mr. Cannata ran straight into the Pacific Ocean off the shore of Port Renfrew

Starting out in St. John’s, Newfoundland on May 1, 2011, Trent athletics personal trainer and student Scott Cannata faced a daunting task – to run the equivalent of a marathon a day across Canada in support of cancer research.

Eight months later on Monday, January 16, 2012, and with more than 200 marathons completed, Mr. Cannata ran straight into the Pacific Ocean off the shore of Port Renfrew, surrounded by family, supporters and Trent alumni.

Mr. Cannata and his team have raised funds close to $40,000 through the Run to Live which has been supported by the Canadian Cancer Society.

Members of the Trent University community are encouraged to leave messages of congratulations for Scott and the Run to Live team on their official Facebook page www.facebook.com/theruntolive. A welcome home event is being planned and will be announced closer to the team’s arrival home at Trent University.

Cannata, 25, decided to run across Canada, like his hero Terry Fox, to raise funds for cancer research. The eight month journey began in St. John’s, Newfoundland on May 1, 2011 and covered 8,778 km through 10 provinces, raising $40,000 to fund future research grants. The fundraising fell short of Cannata’s goal of $2 for every Canadian, however, it is inarguable that he inspired thousands of Canadians just as he was once inspired by a determined young man – and for each who go on to do something, no matter how small, the world will be a better place in immeasurable ways.

‘Run to Live is going to live on’: Scott CannataTrent University student ran equivalent of 209 marathons during 8 1/2-month cross-country journey

Trent University student Scott Cannata recalled talking with children about the importance of cancer research, snowshoeing over waist-high snow through the Rockies and pushing through a -29 C day with headwinds in the Prairies, after finishing his Run to Live cross-country trek.

Cannata finished the 8,778-kilometre route from St. John's, N.L. to Port Renfrew, B.C. on Monday. He collected about $38,000 in donations for the Canadian Cancer Society, but the final fundraising total for the campaign could be more after Cannata goes over the donations collected along the route and the online fundraising.

Cannata, 25, shared that he wished the campaign raised "a hundred times" the amount it did collect.

“The Run to Live, the running portion of it is over, but the Run to Live is going to live on through the other people who have been inspired who are going to push through with their own aspirations and build from our inspiration hopefully.”

Scott Cannata

"The Run to Live, the running portion of it is over, but the Run to Live is going to live on through the other people who have been inspired who are going to push through with their own aspirations and build from our inspiration hopefully," he said Tuesday from Surrey, B.C.

Cannata is making his way back to Durham Region, where he and other members of the Run to Live team are from, before eventually returning to Peterborough to finish the last credit he needs to complete an undergraduate degree at Trent University.

He started running across the country on May 1 last year.

"It's just been full steam ahead for the last 8 1/2 months," Cannata said.

Cannata shared that he felt almost overwhelmed when he finished the route on Monday.

"Every cent that we raised on the road goes straight into research," he said.

Cannata made the decision to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research after he crossed the finish line at a 100-mile trail run in Haliburton in September 2009.

He raised awareness about the continued need to support cancer research and he shared his personal story as he made his way across the country.

When he was 12, his mother was diagnosed with cervical cancer. A few years later, he lost a grandfather to cancer.

His personal experience inspired him to take action.

There were challenges along the route — besides running the equivalent of 209 marathons.

The heater in the trailer stopped working three times in one week when Cannata was making his way between Regina and Saskatoon, Sask. with temperatures between -24 C and -31 C.

"That was pretty tough on us," Cannata said. "Just going through the Prairies in the winter, it was a nightmare…. It was just brutal."

Going through the mountains was challenging, Cannata added.

"There were moments for sure when I was snowshoeing … in almost waist-deep snow at times in the mountains … just feeling like I could barely lift my legs," he said.

Cannata recalled the day in August when he ran through Peterborough in torrential rain with supporters running and cycling with him along the route.

"Going through Peterborough was just absolutely unbelievable," he said, adding he had a similar experience going through Toronto.

And he mentioned meeting family members along the way.

"There's just so many moments that stand out," he said.

Cannata was inspired by Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope.

"I still have no idea how Terry Fox did what he did," Cannata said. "It's unbelievable…. I have infinite respect for what he did."

NOTE: The Run to Live will continue to accept donations for the next few weeks, Scott Cannata said. Donations can be made online through www.theruntolive.com.

The end of a long journey

(PETERBOROUGH) It is said that life is a journey not a destination, but for Scott Cannata and the Run to Live campaign, the finish line in Port Renfrew, BC is one they have had in mind for a long time.The shoreline of the Vancouver Island city where Cannata symbolically dipped his foot on Monday, Jan. 16, marked the end of a journey that began more than eight months ago in St Johns, Newfoundland.Motivated by his mother’s battle with cancer, Cannata began making plans to run across Canada in support of cancer research more than a year ago. “Never had it occurred to me that I couldn’t do this,” said Cannata prior to his finish.Anita Record recognized this determination right away. As manager of the Peterborough unit of the Canadian Cancer Society and one of Scott’s biggest supporters, she never doubted Cannata’s ability to go the distance. “A lot of people have come to me saying they were going to run across Canada,” said Record “(But) I knew he was going to do it as soon as he stepped into my office.”For many the concept of running a single marathon seems daunting. Cannata endured running as many as 30 consecutive marathons, all the while battling hazardous running conditions on the road side and Canada’s unforgiving elements.In many places during their journey across the prairies it was impossible for the truck to remain with him as the shoulder didn’t allow for much room for a vehicle and weather conditions required more than what running shoes could provide.“At times I had to snowshoe (on the shoulder of the road) 10 to 15 kilometres without seeing my team,” says Cannata. It was during these times that the 25 year old nearly reached his breaking point, but as he did many times along the journey, Cannata drew strength from the many stories of courage and inspiration of the people he met along his path.In contrast to his great athletic accomplishment, Cannata fell short of his goal to raise $2 for every Canadian. However, more than $40,000 was raised through his effort.“I feel sad,” says Cannata. “Not for me but for everybody else that this was for.”The campaign took 261 days from the time it began on May 1, 2011, included 209 marathons and sacrificed nearly a dozen pairs of shoes. However, awareness is not so easily measured.While the money raised will assist in funding future research grants, it is the seeds of inspiration that Cannata has planted in the many youths he met along the way that will lead to a harvest of greater discoveries in the search for a cure.“We are just a piece of the puzzle,” says Cannata.Now that he is done, the Run to Live team will begin the long trek home to Peterborough and close the book on an accomplishment that was almost a year in the making. Once home, both Trent University where Cannata works and the Canadian Cancer Society of Peterborough will host events to celebrate his accomplishment.For more information on the Run to Live campaign and the upcoming events please see www.theruntolive.com

Scott Cannata - Marathon Man

WAHOO! Scott Cannata and The Run to Live team have overcome many hardships and challenges and made it to Port Renfrew, British Columbia on Monday, January 16 - 202 Marathons completed! We are delighted to have contributed $267.25 from our Red, White and Black Toonie Day and the purchasing of special backpacks. (Backpacks still available from Mrs. Richardson in the library - great for knitting or gym clothes!) All funds were donated through The Run to Live website, for the Canadian Cancer Society. What a great show of Optimism that you believed you and your team could make it happen! Many thanks to all his supporters from coast to coast. What an inspiration to DREAM BIG and change lives for the better!

Scott Cannata: Reaching the Goal

The finish line is in sight for a Trent University student running across Canada in support of cancer research. Scott Cannata set out on May 1 from St John’s Newfoundland to run the equivalent of a marathon-a-day. On December 20, Scott and the ‘Run to Live’ team crossed the border into British Columbia, having completed what amounts to 200 marathons. They hope to complete their journey by the middle of this month in Port Renfrew. To this date, $38,000 has been raised for the Canadian Cancer Society.

Trent Student's Run to Live Nears Completion

Starting out in St. John’s, Newfoundland on May 1, Trent student and Athletics Centre trainer Scott Cannata faced a daunting task – to run the equivalent of a marathon a day across Canada in support of cancer research. Now, eight months later and with more than 190 marathons complete, the end of his incredible journey is in sight.

On December 20, Scott and The Run to Live team crossed the British Columbia border, marking a significant milestone in their travels. With less than 20 marathons left to run, the team hopes to achieve their remarkable goal before the end of January 2012.

Throughout the Run, Scott and his team have been bolstered by the ongoing support of the Trent community.

“I want to thank the Trent and Peterborough communities for their continued support,” said Scott. “On the road, we have had tonnes of time to think about those at home as well as people across the country and around the world who are struggling with this disease. It is our hope that this run will make a little bit of difference in their lives and show that cancer can be beaten.”

When The Run to Live came through Peterborough in August 2011, the Trent community gathered to give Scott a homecoming to remember. During that event, Scott challenged Trent students, faculty, staff, alumni and members of the Trent Athletics Centre (AC) to complete the equivalent of a marathon per week on the AC track in support of his run for cancer research. When the challenge ended December 31, this goal was not only met but also exceeded with the equivalent of 37.4 marathons (3,924.5 laps) complete! Special thanks go out to all who have contributed to this amazing total.

About The Run to Live

The Run to Live is Scott Cannata, a Trent student and Athletics Centre trainer who is aiming to raise funds for the Canadian Cancer Society which will be used specifically for cancer research. During The Run to Live’s cross-Canada tour which began in St. John’s, Newfoundland on May 1 and will continue until the end of January 2012, the mission is to provide hope to those who are affected by cancer and to create a refreshed outlook on our capacity to beat cancer to current and future generations. To date, more than $38,000 has been raised through the Run. The goal is to raise $2 for every Canadian. For more information regarding The Run to Live, visit www.theruntolive.com

You can also support The Run to Live by purchasing a bracelet at Trent Health in Motion, located within the Athletics Centre.

Members of the Trent community are also encouraged to leave messages of encouragement and support for Scott and TRTL team as they near the end of their journey on their official Facebook page.www.facebook.com/theruntolive

“I live to run and I run to live, now it's time to run so others can live." – Scott Cannata

Designs for (reaching) the finish line

To reach your goals for the new year, start small, savour each victory and don’t focus solely on your finish line, but concentrate on completing each day’s run. For instance, when 25-year-old Scott Cannata dreamt of running across the country, he didn’t obsess about running nearly 209 consecutive marathons. Instead, he chopped Canada up into a series of 26.2-mile bits.

“Canada’s a bloody huge country, so first I broke it down into provinces, then I broke it down into each day’s individual run,” says Cannata, reached in Vernon, B.C., only 15 marathons away from his estimated Jan. 20 finish in Port Renfrew, B.C. “I’d be terrified if I obsessed over the whole distance. Instead, I tackled each day and that made it less daunting: I didn’t focus on how far I had left to run, I focused on how far I’d already been.”

Odds are, your 2012 running goals do not include racing across the country. For most of us, work, relationships and other non-running responsibilities (and perhaps even conditioning, a bit), keep such lofty ambitions off our to-do lists. However, every runner has their own Mt. Everest to climb. The important thing is to manage your expectations. Cannata was already an experienced ultra-marathon runner when he set out for British Columbia from Newfoundland and Labrador. A good rule of thumb is that it takes an experienced runner 18 weeks to prepare for a marathon race. According to Jordan Myers, race director of Vancouver’s BMO Marathon, you should allow eight weeks to get from the couch to a 5K run, and at least 10 weeks to get from the 10K distance to a half-marathon.

“For someone who has never done any running, 10 kilometres

is an extreme distance,” says Myers, who also works on the Vancouver Sun Run, an annual event held each May that attracted more than 60,000 participants last year. “If you want to a run a marathon this spring, you should start training right now, but bigger isn’t always better, and there’s a benefit to running something small and running it right than getting injured on a long run and never trying it again.”

Of course, as if by necessity, runners are a tenacious, goal-oriented bunch and most of us will be attempting to run further and faster in 2012 than we did last year. It’s hard to run three times a week in a Canadian winter if you’re not motivated at least somewhat by beating your previous personal bests.

“The more you tell people that you’re going to do something, the more you’re compelled to do it,” says Malcolm Anderson, author of The Messengers, a book composed of interviews with runners who’ve completed at least 100 marathons. According to Anderson, running clubs and clinics are great motivators for individual performers because the entire group becomes accountable for achieving the goal. If you want to break your old records this year, the best thing you can do is find someone to run with: The most successful runners of all distances are rarely people who run on their own.

“When you’re running with a dozen people and pull out, you kind of look like a wimp,” says Anderson, a veteran of 42 marathons. “Really, that’s little more than peer pressure, but the truth is – peer pressure works.”

Join the community on our NP Running Facebook page, and tell us about your goals for the year, and your plan to get there, and follow Ben Kaplan on Twitter to stay hooked in to the latest in running developments, elite athlete interviews and contests:@NP_RunningBen.

_Runner makes cross-country trek

_Sabrina Benzinger, Scott Cannata and Meghan Baird are working
their way across Canada, as Cannata runs a marathon a day on the
highways. – Catherine Szabo Photo
By Catherine Szabo
Scott Cannata's days are measured in 42.2-kilometre increments.
The 25-year-old started running across Canada in May and expects to be
in Port Renfrew, B.C., by mid-January, which will mark the end of his
nine-month, marathon-a-day run across Canada, raising money and
awareness for the research division of the Canadian Cancer Society.

Scott Cannata Runs to Live

By Dana Menard

25 year old Scott Cannata is running across Canada to raise money for cancer research, like his inspiration Terry Fox. Scott’s fundraising goal is twice as grand as Terry’s goal to raise $1 per Canadian. Scott wants to raise $2 per Canadian for a total of 70 million dollars. At the time of printing, Scott had already raised $20,000.

Scott was motivated to take on a goal of this magnitude by his family’s struggle with cancer. His mother was diagnosed with cervical cancer when he was 12, which had a dramatic impact on Scott and his entire family. Cancer struck again a couple of years ago when he lost his paternal grandfather. Scott says that the idea of running across Canada to raise money for cancer research came to him in September 2009 shortly after finishing a 100-mile trail run. Completing this event helped him understand the amazing psychological and physical potential of human beings.

His dream became a reality in May 2011, when he dipped his toe in the Atlantic and set out to cover the 8,778km from St. John’s, Newfoundland to Port Renfrew, British Columbia. He will be running the equivalent of 209 marathons over eight months. Given the huge number of people affected by cancer, Scott says, “Eight months is nothing from my life. [It’s] absolutely worth it, so worth it.” He chose the Canadian Cancer Society to receive the proceeds of his run because they would allow him to designate the money for research and he liked the idea of contributing to the kind of cutting-edge research that has helped keep his mother alive to this day.

Having set this lofty goal, Scott quickly found that the journey to the start line would be almost as long and difficult as his journey across the country. Picking his route across the country was one of the first problems. In fact, Scott describes the route as “an ongoing evolution”, which is still not set in stone even as he nears the half-way point in his journey. His first approach was to use an online program, an idea that was quickly scrapped as the proposed route took him through eight American states rather than through Canada. Scott wanted to run through all the provincial capitals as well as the most heavily-populated areas of the country; however, it was also important to avoid certain highways as running along the side is illegal. In the end, Scott and his team had to go through a map one inch at a time.

There were lots of other logistical difficulties associated with getting a three-person team across the country. Scott took a semester off from school and enlisted a small army of friends and family to prepare. He spent months tracking down sponsors, creating his Run to Live foundation, communicating with the media, making sure that he would have somewhere to sleep and enough to eat during the voyage (as well as plenty of running shoes). Scott says he heard the word “no” many, many more times than the word “yes”. However, he kept plugging away, knowing that the only way to prove he could complete this challenge was to actually do it.

Ironically, Scott says that one of the easiest parts has been the running itself. It has never crossed his mind to stop and getting started each day is no problem at all. Scott says that he is motivated by thinking of the people he has met who have been affected by the disease. He knows that each kilometre he covers is helping to raise hope, awareness and money.

So what’s a typical day for a man running across Canada? Scott says he and his team usually get up at 8am. They have breakfast in their trailer, get dressed, hop in their truck and drive to wherever they left off the day before. Just after 9am, he starts running and usually covers a half-marathon (21.1km) before it’s time for a lunch. After lunch (and sometimes a nap), he gets back to running. At the end of the day, his team takes a picture of him at the stopping point and record the GPS coordinates so that they will know where to start the next morning. The team eats dinner, discusses their plans for the next day and goes to bed. Scott has gone through seven pairs of running shoes at press time and anticipates that the entire journey will require about 16 pairs.

After he finishes running across Canada, Scott plans to complete his degree in physical anthropology at Trent University but after that, he’s not sure. During his cross-country trip, he has stopped to talk to a few elementary school groups so he’s got plans to report back to the kids. Right now, Scott says he’s not worried about the future too much because he’s doing something more important. His only concern at present is getting himself and his crew to Port Renfrew one kilometre at a time.

Donations can be made through www.runtolive.com. Scott and his team are also accepting roadside donations so check his website to see when he’ll be coming through your town. Smiles, honks and waves are also warmly appreciated.

Cross - Canada marathon fundraiser hits half way point

How does Scott Cannata feel as he digs into the second half of his cross-Canada trek this week?

Tired and hungry pretty much cover it.

"I feel like I'm doing a marathon every day, to be quite honest with you, which is what I'm doing," said the Trent University student, during a stop in Sault Ste. Marie on Thursday.

As of Thursday, Cannata, 25, has run 106 marathons since he began his fundraising run for cancer research in St. John's, Nfld. on May 1.

He's got nearly as many more marathons to go before he reaches Port Renfrew, B.C., he hopes in early December.

Cannata is running for everyone with cancer, but a big part of his motivation was his mother's bout with cancer when he was 12.

It has been more than a decade since that episode, but Cannata said it changed him forever.

"It really did impact me. I was terrified every single time she went off to the doctors, because I was scared she'd say, 'Oh well, it's back," said Cannata, whose grandfather also died of cancer several years ago. "I still have that thought. It doesn't go away."

Cannata, who has a background in competitive long-distance running, dropped everything to make this journey. He sold his car, gave up his apartment and took the semester off school for the run.

It takes him anywhere from four and a half hours to nine hours to complete a full marathon - 26 miles, or 42.2 kilometres - each day, which often involves creative route choices. For instance, the team has had to make detours onto back roads to avoid double-lane portions of the Trans Canada Highway, including the four-lane section on the east side the Sault.

He said it hasn't been easy. Public support was hard to come by in the first five provinces, he said.

It wasn't until he crossed into Ontario that momentum started to pick up.

"Ontario was that point, when we came over the bridge into Hawkesbury it was a change of pace: we had fire truck and police escorts in a lot of the major cities from Hawkesbury onwards," said Cannata. "With that, comes people noticing what you're doing and we really had none of that up until Ontario."

Donations have easily doubled since hitting this province, and the total now stands somewhere around $28,000, he said.

Two fellow Trent students, Cannata's girlfriend, Meghan Baird, and Sabrina Benzinger, a longtime friend who recently became a registered nurse, act as his support crew.

The trio stopped 19 kilometres into Thursday's run at the Sault Canadian Cancer Society office on McNabb Street, where Cannata chatted with staff and snacked on a muffin.

After that, he took the scenic route through the Sault on Thursday, running down Pine Street, along Queen Street and up Bruce Street to Great Northern Road on his way out of town, stopping at the Trading Post to pose for a photo with the city police officers who were his escort.

Cannata has a single credit to complete to get his physical anthropology degree at Trent.

Other than that, he said he doesn't really have any plans following his trek. For now, the remaining marathons he'll run between now and December are enough to keep him occupied.

A Run Worth Supporting, A Reader Says

On Saturday morning, at around noon, I received a tweet sent to my phone from Mike Downie. Mike is travelling with Riley Senft, from Step Into Action, across Canada as part of a Prostate Cancer Awareness campaign. Mike and Riley travelled through Parry Sound on July 14 and we became friends when they camped across the road from our house the night before they traveled through town. The tweet that Mike sent me said, “The Run To Live is running through your neighborhood today. You should check them out and say Hi!” He preceded that tweet with a tweet to the crew of The Run To Live which said, “Parry Sound was very welcoming to us, and hope that they are to you as well. All the best.” Mike and I sent a few more tweets after that while I was checking out The Run To Live’s website, www.theruntolive.com. Neither Mike nor myself knew when they were expected in Parry Sound, or better yet, if they were running past our house. About an hour later I was still researching them when my little sister Samantha saw him running up the road. We quickly got ready and drove up the road in search of them. We caught up with them as they were just pulling out of Rankin Lake Road onto Oastler Park Drive. We drove ahead of them and stopped at Oastler Park, were we took pictures of him running. When they caught up to us, Scott Cannata stopped to say hello. We spoke to him for a few minutes before his girlfriend and best friend came out of the truck they were following him in. They said hello and introduced themselves as Meghan (the girlfriend) and Sabrina (the best friend) and gave my sister and I both a wristband. We told them how Mike had messaged us and they said he was amazing for telling people about them. We spoke to them about where we lived and they started laughing because when they drove past our house they commented on how cute they thought it was. We spoke a little bit longer about the run, and then we said we should let him keep running so he didn’t get too far behind on his run for the day. They thanked us for stopping, said it was nice to meet us, and took a few pictures of us with Scott. They went back to the truck, he got a drink, and then proceeded on his way. Unfortunately we didn’t talk to much about his run, but they did give us the website, which is www.theruntolive.com. His inspiration on the run is to collect money for cancer research. His mother has battled cancer and he feels very strongly on this topic. Please go to their website and help them out. It is a fantastic cause. Sara Jacklin Seguin Township

Running Beyond The Limits

"Today is my 75th straight marathon," says Scott Cannata, reached just outside Caledon, Ont., as the runner makes his way across the country from St. John's to Port Renfrew, B.C.

Cannata, a 25-year-old anthropology student at Trent University in Peterborough, Ont., had only completed one marathon before lacing up his Nikes for a cross-country run, but he believes that, in general, people have become too timid in terms of their expectations.

"I have lots of time to think on the road in the middle of nowhere, and I believe we create these boundaries and restrictions on our day-to-day actions," says Cannata, who has adopted his girlfriend's vegan diet since beginning his run on May 1. "If you can convince yourself that the seemingly impossible is possible, you can absolutely do anything that you like."

Call it the power of posi-tive thinking or just runners with loose screws, but as recreational running becomes more popular, extreme running events are gaining more attention, too. The question is: Why would an otherwise rational human being want to run something like the Canadian Death Race, a nasty 125-kilometre trek across the Canadian Rockies?

"If you're not in the subculture, it's very difficult to communicate, but I don't think of ultra-running as something like skydiving," says Nick Holt, an associate professor in the faculty of physical education at the University of Alberta, and a two-time finisher of the Death Race (and onetime dropout). Holt describes his Death Race experience in terms similar to how a returning soldier might describe war. He began his race at 8 a.m. and, after running up and down mountains all day, he reached a 2,000-metre cliff at 10 p.m.

"You fight through it when you can barely keep going and there's a lot of falling over, but I went in with the mantra: 'I'm just going to keep getting up,' " says Holt, who is working on a paper about his experience and training for next year's race. "You feel worse than you've ever felt before, but you have to keep going, and there's just very few circumstances in life where you have to push forward when every fibre of your body tells you to stop. Once you're in it, it consumes you."

Greg Wells works at the faculty of physical education and health at the University of Toronto; he calls extreme athletes "outliers." He says people like Cannata and Candace Sutherland, a 17-yearold from Winnipeg who ran across the country last year, are making even recreational runners re-examine what they can do.

"There are always going to be human beings who push the limits - that's why we went to the moon," says Wells, who once spent four months cycling across Africa and specializes in the physiology of extreme athletes. "These people are expanding the notion of what we're capable of and giving us new answers to the question: 'How far can we go?' "

For Cannata, that question began with a passion to take a stand against cancer. After watching his mother battle through cervical cancer and then his grandfather succumb to the disease, Cannata decided to get involved.

Hoping to raise awareness through a grand gesture, he took a cue from Terry Fox and headed out across the country. He says that when he gets stiff or tired or has to fight cramping or bad weather, he makes the race about more than himself. He makes it about all of the people who are battling the disease.

"My mom was diagnosed when I was 12, and watching her go through surgery and radiation treatment and becoming so sick had a really heavy impact on my life," Cannata says. "Then when I lost my grandfather, I felt like we've got to do something in terms of research and development. If my contribution is calling attention to this, then I can and I will run a marathon every day."

The Run to Live

Scott Cannata and The Run to Live made their way back through to Pickering to stop at their sponsor Boyer GM Pickering. Boyer hosted a welcoming event for The Run to Live. All public and media were invited for a meet and greet with Scott Cannata, as well as having free hamburgers, hotdogs, drinks and salads. The Run to Live aims to raise funds for the Canadian Cancer Society which will be used specifically for cancer research. During The Run to Live’s cross Canada tour which will continue until the end of 2011, the mission is to provide hope to those who are affected by cancer and to create a refreshed outlook on our capacity to beat cancer to current and future generations.

The Run to Live comes to Peterborough

On Monday, August 8 Scott Cannata run his way in to Peterborough (the Justin Chiu Stadium) as he makes his way across Canada, running a marathon a day (42.2 kilometres), 209 marathons in total, in support of cancer research! Scott ran into the Trent campus and around the track, meeting emcee Peter Adams at the podium. MPP Jeff Leal, Mayor Daryl Bennett, Peterborough County Warden J. Murray Jones, Trent University Steven Franklin and Anita Record and Lyndsey Fullman from the Canadian Cancer Society, all welcomed Scott back to Peterborough and offered words of encouragement

Pushing it harder - Elite athletes go to extremes

"Today is my 75th straight marathon," says Scott Cannata, reached just outside Caledon, Ont., as the runner makes his way across the country from St. John's to Port Renfrew, B.C.

Cannata, a 25-year-old anthropology student at Trent University in Peterborough, Ont., had only completed one marathon prior to lacing up his Nikes for a (literal) cross-country run, but he believes that, in general, people have become too timid in terms of their expectations.

"I have lots of time to think on the road in the middle of nowhere, and I believe we create these boundaries and restrictions on our day-to-day actions," said Cannata, who has adopted his girlfriend's vegan diet since beginning his run on May 1.

"If you can convince yourself that the seemingly impossible is possible, you can absolutely do anything that you like."

Call it the power of positive thinking or else just runners with loose screws, but as recreational running becomes more popular, extreme running events are gaining more attention, too. The question is: Why would an otherwise rational human being want to run something like the Canadian Death Race, a nasty 125-kilometre trek across the Canadian Rockies?

"If you're not in the subculture, it's very difficult to communicate, but I don't think of ultra-running as something like skydiving," said Dr. Nick Holt, an associate professor in the faculty of physical education at the University of Alberta, and a two-time finisher of the Death Race (and onetime dropout).

Holt describes his Death Race experience in terms similar to how a returning soldier might describe war. He began his race at 8 a.m. and, after running up and down mountains all day, he reached a 2,000-metre cliff at 10 p.m.

"You fight through it when you can barely keep going and there's a lot of falling over, but I went in with the mantra: 'I'm just going to keep getting up,''' said Holt, who's working on a paper about his experience and training for next year's race.

"You feel worse than you've ever felt before, but you have to keep going, and there's just very few circumstances in life where you have to push forward when every fibre of your body tells you to stop. Once you're in it, it consumes you."

Dr. Greg Wells works at the faculty of physical education and health at the University of Toronto and he calls extreme athletes "outliers." He says folks such as Scott Cannata and Candace Sutherland, a 17-year-old from Winnipeg who ran across the country last year, are making even recreational runners re-examine what they can do.

"There are always going to be human beings who push the limits - that's why we went to the moon," said Wells, who once spent four months cycling across Africa and specializes in the physiology of extreme athletes. "These people are expanding the notion of what we're capable of and giving us new answers to the question: 'How far can we go?' ''

For Cannata, that question began with a passion to take a stand against cancer. After watching his mother battle through cervical cancer and then his grandfather succumb to the disease, Cannata decided to get involved.

Hoping to raise awareness through a grand gesture, he took a page from Terry Fox and headed out across the country. He says that when he gets stiff or tired or has to battle through cramping or bad weather, he makes the race about more than himself. He makes it about all of the people who are battling the disease.

"My mom was diagnosed when I was 12, and watching her go through surgery and radiation treatment and becoming so sick had a really heavy impact on my life," Cannata said. "Then, when I lost my grandfather, I felt like we've got to do something in terms of research and development. If my contribution is calling attention to this, then I can and I will run a marathon every day."

He has been running for hope. On August 31, Scott Cannata will be running through Sudbury during his cross-Canada run, hoping to raise at least $2 from each Canadian to put towards cancer research in partnership with the Canadian Cancer Society. The Canadian Cancer Society Sudbury & District Unit will be hosting a welcoming event at its Regent Street office on August 31, 2011.

“We are honoured and excited to have Scott in Sudbury! It’s incredible how far one individual is willing to go to fight cancer.” – Cathy Burns, Unit Manager, Canadian Cancer Society Sudbury & District Unit

Throughout his journey, Scott will be challenging his body to new limits, while fighting these numbers: 7, 8500, 209, and 42.2. He will have to be physically and mentally prepared to run 42.2 kilometers per day for the next seven months. Between St. John, NL and Port Renfrew, BC, Scott will be running 209 marathons that will cover about 8500 kilometers.

Scott has not to endure cancer, but he knows how cancer can affect your love ones and family. With two younger sisters, Scott, at the age of 12, had to grow-up quickly; as his mother was diagnosed with cancer. A few years later, he lost his Poppa Cannata to cancer. The feeling of helplessness and realization that not everyone can survive cancer has driven him to run. For more information or donations for The Run to Live, visit www.theruntolive.com.

"I live to run and I run to live, now it's time to run so others can live." - Scott Cannata

Scott Cannata is running a marathon a day from Newfoundland to BC in support of cancer research.

Scott, like so many of us, has been touched by cancer so he decided to do this run in honour of Terry Fox 25 years later in order to raise money to find a cure. Scott is a current undergraduate at Trent University, and he works for Bill Byrick part-time in the Athletics Centre. He's the real thing -a very fit, sincere, determined and driven young man. I met him in Peterborough a few weeks ago and was incredibly impressed.

A Peterborough man who's crossing the country running a marathon every day to raise money for cancer research had a brief pit stop in Barrie, Tuesday.Scott Cannata started his Run to Live campaign in St. John's, N.L., on May 1, and has run 42 kilometres a day — the length of a full marathon — and raised $26,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society research division.

"It goes to show there are people and businesses out there willing to support a good cause," Cannata said. "It's been a long haul so far, and there's still a long way to go, but we're making some progress."

Cannata expects to end the marathon in Port Renfrew, B.C., in late December.

And even though he has a long way to go, he hasn't forgotten his motivation.

"I've always run so that was kind of something I had to work with and my mom is a cancer survivor," he said. "Everybody knows somebody who has been affected by cancer."

Cannata's mother was cleared of cervical cancer when he was 14, but after years of watching her go through radiation treatment and surgery, the 25-year-old never forgot how it affected his family.

"I reached out to the Canadian Cancer Society and they said, 'Let's go'," he said. "It's very exciting."

He was only 30 kilometres into his 91st marathon on Tuesday when he passed through Barrie alongside the truck and trailer his teams have been following him in.

"We just came up Highway 27 into Barrie," Cannata said. "It's the perfect point in all our lives to get out there and make a difference."

Cannata said when he hits the day's finish line he sets a GPS tracking point so he can start right where he left off the day before.

There are plenty of people who can say they spend all day on the road. Truckers, couriers and sometimes even hardworking journalists tend to log a lot of kilometres day to day. But the difference between all of them and Peterborough native Scott Cannata is that the 25-year-old Trent University student puts in his road hours on foot.

Cannata is running across Canada to raise money for cancer research through the Canadian Cancer Society. Since setting off from St. John's, Newfoundland on May 1, he's raised roughly $23,000 and run a marathon (42 km) nearly every day.

"I wake up every morning pretty stiff in the legs, for sure," Cannata says. "It's tough to describe. For anyone who's run a marathon, it would definitely mean something else."

But chatting with the Londoner on his midday break as he passes through London, Cannata almost downplays the enormity of his goal.

"It's not like I'm racing the marathon," he offers up as an explanation for how his body is able to endure the daily ­rigours of a cross-country run. "And it has never once been a question of if I will but how long it's gonna take to get there."

There's no question either that it's more than his morning cereal that fuels this athlete's journey. With his mother having been diagnosed with cervical cancer when he was 12 and his grandfather passing away from a different cancer a few years later, Cannata recalls a sense of helplessness when his family was faced with the disease.

"It's very much related to being out here for a reason," ­Cannata says. "In my opinion it really does take the right ­reason to be out here."

And it seems Cannata effectively communicates that ­reason to a small but loyal following wherever he goes.

Take Emilie for example. The 23-year-old Trent nursing grad who preferred not to give her last name, said she's been following Cannata's journey since it began. A survivor of childhood leukemia herself, the London resident said she felt she had to come out to meet him as he passed through her hometown, despite the fact they don't know each other.

"I've been to the events but have never got the chance to speak to him," she said, waiting for Cannata to make an appearance at the entrance to Victoria Park at Richmond Street and Central Avenue along his route through London. She added words can't explain the feeling she gets from ­seeing another person take on such a grand gesture to benefit the cause of cancer research.

"It did hit me hard how he was doing this for everybody," she said. "It's very impressive."

Dan Mathers, a friend of Cannata's girlfriend Meghan, was also impressed.

"It takes a lot of hard work and organization and the physical toll of doing it without getting injured must take a lot out of him," said Mathers, whose family hosted Cannata and his team on their stopover in London. "Most of his family and friends are in the GTA, so that's where they get most of their support from, but they've managed to find people to keep them going since they left Newfoundland."

And they'll likely need a few more friends along the way before they end their journey in Port Renfrew, B.C. in December.

"We are definitely all getting a greater appreciation for how vast this country is, the sheer size of the country, and also demographics, how diverse it is. It's great," Cannata says. "Everybody we've met has been very supportive… It's a long, hard road, but it helps to have people."

WHITBY -- It's been an emotionally charged few months for Scott Cannata since he started his journey running across Canada to raise money for cancer research. Within the first week of the Run to Live campaign, which kicked off in Newfoundland on May 1, the 25-year-old former Durham resident suffered a sprain in his right foot.

"I was told by two separate health-care professionals that I need to get off my foot immediately and so I actually had to take a week off," says Mr. Cannata, in a phone call with This Week during a brief stop just outside of London.

"That was really tough on all of us psychologically because the body heals, but we were all excited to start and it was really challenging to deal with that so early into the trip," he says.

Mr. Cannata launched his mission in September 2009 in honour of his mother, a cancer survivor, and his grandfather, who lost his battle with the disease six years ago. His goal is to run a marathon a day, travelling east to west across Canada, and convince every Canadian to contribute $2 to the cause.

Since the injury, he and his support team -- which includes his girlfriend of 10 years, 22-year-old Meghan Baird who drives the campaign truck -- have only taken three days off. After conquering the Maritimes, Mr. Cannata stepped foot in Ontario in late July, passing through Durham last week.

"We had the Durham Regional Police and we had different fire services all the way through Durham, as well as the OPP escorting us right along Hwy. 2 from Bowmanville all the way to the far side of Pickering," says Mr. Cannata, who attended elementary school in Whitby and high school in Pickering.

"We had lots of support there and it was absolutely incredible," he says.

Momentum has been slowly building as the team reaches its halfway point in the journey, which is expected to wrap up in British Columbia by late December.

"We try not to hold our breath or get our hopes up, but we've had some absolutely incredible gatherings that were completely unexpected and I can't say enough about the people who have volunteered their time and services to get these events going for us," says Mr. Cannata.

Ms. Baird adds she's been overwhelmed by the generosity of Canadians and is glad she decided to accompany him on the trek, despite being hesitant at first.

"I was a little bit skeptical but then after a week or so, I kind of came around to the idea ... he's the perfect person ... he has the drive, he's determined, he's stubborn to a point and when he puts his mind to something, he just does it," she says.

Mr. Cannata insists it's the people he meets along the way who continue to inspire him to keep going during the hard days.

"I don't think I've talked to a single person since I've been out here who doesn't have a story (about cancer) so that just reinforces why we are out here and goes to show you that this is absolutely necessary."

So far, the Run to Live campaign has managed to raise $23,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society.

Scott Cannata Receives Hero's Welcome as he passes through Peterborough on his Cross-Country Marathon

Hometown event raises more than $2,300 for The Run to Live

Oshawa - More than 300 people gathered at the Justin Chiu Stadium on Monday, August 8, 2011 to welcome Trent student Scott Cannata back to Peterborough as he makes his way across Canada, running a marathon a day, in support of the Canadian Cancer Society and cancer research.

The special homecoming event provided a significant boost for Scott and The Run to Live team, who began their journey on May 1 in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Friends and family, along with members of the Trent and Peterborough communities, filled the stands and lined the stadium entrance to welcome Scott back to Trent.

“The crowd cheered Scott as he made a victory lap around the track,” said Kathryn Verhulst-Rogers, marketing and communications coordinator for Athletics & Recreation at Trent, who helped to organize the event. “It was an incredible moment for Scott and for everyone in attendance.”

During the event, an impressive $2,367.55 was raised in support of The Run to Live, through a barbecue and donations from supporters, including a generous gift from the varsity women’s soccer team.

Special guests on hand to provide their own words of welcome and support included Peterborough MPP Jeff Leal, County Warden J. Murray Jones, Mayor Daryl Bennett and Trent University President Dr. Steven Franklin. Peter Adams acted as emcee.

In his short speech to the crowd, Scott Cannata spoke of the toll that running a marathon a day is having on his body.

“It’s tough,” he said, adding, “But I know that what I’m going through physically and emotionally is nothing compared to what those who are fighting cancer are experiencing.”

Scott also issued a challenge of his own to the Trent community – to share in the journey by completing the equivalent of a marathon per week for the duration of The Run to Live. Using the track in the Justin Chiu Stadium, Trent students, faculty, staff and alumni, along with members of the Trent Community Sport & Recreation Centre, are being challenged to run a combined total of 42.2 kilometres per week, or 106 laps, until the Run to Live completes its journey in Port Renfrew, BC in December.

Student groups, community members and others have already started the challenge and progress is being tracked.

A Peterborough man, who is in the process of running across Canada to raise funds for cancer research, dedicated the Oakville leg of his run to the late David Smyth.

Scott Cannata, 25, ran into Oakville’s Town Square Friday morning, where Smyth’s parents, Mike and Kim, and Oakville MP Terence Young greeted him and celebrated his arrival.

David Smyth, an Oakville resident, spent the last few weeks of his life last summer trying to raise awareness of the need for more Canadians to get a cheek swab test to see if they could potentially save the life of someone in need of a bone marrow transplant.

On Sept. 3, 2010, Smyth lost his life to a severe form of leukemia while waiting for such a transplant.

He was only 20 years old.

“We have all been affected in some capacity by this disease and that is exactly why we are out here,” said Cannata.

“Today is in honour of David Smyth. He was a Trent (University) student with me out in Peterborough. He was always an important part of the Trent athletic community, where I was a personal trainer, and I saw him every shift. He always had a smile on his face so this smile I have today is for him.”

Cannata began, what is being called the Run to Live on May 1, departing from St. John’s, Newfoundland.

With his arrival in Oakville, he had run 3,400 kilometres of his 8,700-km journey, which will end when he reaches Port Renfrew, B.C., sometime in December or January.

Cannata, who is running in partnership with the Canadian Cancer Society, said he averages around 42.2 kilometres per day and has so far raised an unofficial total of $20,000 for cancer research.

Smyth’s mother Kim joined Cannata for a portion of his run into Oakville, running with him for about half a kilometre.

“I thought I would give every effort to at least run part of the way because Scott has dedicated this to David, so I gave it my best today,” said Kim.

“I’m glad I did it, I’m glad that I tried and I’m just very proud of what he has accomplished.”

Mike Smyth said the support Cannata has given to his family goes back well before Friday’s dedication.

“When David went into hospital in July and got progressively worse, Scott came out to various cheek swab sessions and told us about his plans to do this. He’s been in training for a year and a half,” said Mike.

“He was helpful for us and we want to be helpful for him and we want everyone to be aware they can help fight this thing.”

Young also recognized Cannata, presenting him with a special certificate and welcoming him to Oakville.

Cannata said he decided to begin the Run to Live because of the impact cancer has had on his own family.

His own mother, he said, is a cancer survivor and six years ago he lost his paternal grandfather to cancer.

Cannata said he was struck by the sense of helplessness one feels as a loved one struggles through a deadly disease.

Following these experiences, Cannata decided to fight back and on Friday, he saluted Smyth for doing the same.

“This is an important day because it shows you how one individual can impact many lives and make a difference. David impacted me, just like he impacted many others in this community and in the Trent community,” said Cannata.

More than 300 people gathered at the Justin Chiu Stadium on Monday, August 8, 2011 to welcome Trent student Scott Cannata back to Peterborough as he makes his way across Canada, running a marathon a day, in support of the Canadian Cancer Society and cancer research.

The special homecoming event provided a significant boost for Scott and The Run to Live team, who began their journey on May 1 in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Friends and family, along with members of the Trent and Peterborough communities, filled the stands and lined the stadium entrance to welcome Scott back to Trent.

“The crowd cheered Scott as he made a victory lap around the track,” said Kathryn Verhulst-Rogers, marketing and communications coordinator for Athletics & Recreation at Trent, who helped to organize the event. “It was an incredible moment for Scott and for everyone in attendance.”

During the event, an impressive $2,367.55 was raised in support of The Run to Live, through a barbecue and donations from supporters, including a generous gift from the varsity women’s soccer team.

Special guests on hand to provide their own words of welcome and support included Peterborough MPP Jeff Leal, County Warden J. Murray Jones, Mayor Daryl Bennett and Trent University President Dr. Steven Franklin. Peter Adams acted as emcee.

In his short speech to the crowd, Scott Cannata spoke of the toll that running a marathon a day is having on his body.

“It’s tough,” he said, adding, “But I know that what I’m going through physically and emotionally is nothing compared to what those who are fighting cancer are experiencing.”

He also issued a challenge of his own to the Trent community – to share in the journey by completing the equivalent of a marathon per week for the duration of The Run to Live. Using the track in the Justin Chiu Stadium, Trent students, faculty, staff and alumni, along with members of the Trent Community Sport & Recreation Centre, are being challenged to run a combined total of 42.2 kilometres per week, or 106 laps, until the Run to Live completes its journey in Port Renfrew, BC in December. Student groups, community members and others have already started the challenge and progress is being tracked.

About The Run to Live

The Run to Live aims to raise funds for the Canadian Cancer Society which will be used specifically for cancer research. During The Run to Live’s cross-Canada tour which will continue until the end of 2011, the mission is to provide hope to those who are affected by cancer and to create a refreshed outlook on our capacity to beat cancer to current and future generations. To date, more than $15,000 has been raised through the Run. The goal is to raise $2 for every Canadian. For more information regarding The Run to Live, visit www.theruntolive.com

“I live to run and I run to live, now it's time to run so others can live." – Scott Cannata

Breakfast Television - August 12th, 2011

Breakfast Television - August 11th, 2011

“Every morning when I wake up, I feel like I ran a marathon the day before and I know I have to run another one.”

Scott Cannata feels that way for a reason. Every morning when he wakes up, he did run a marathon the day before. And he has to drag himself back onto the road to run another one.

Since May 1, with the exception of a few days off to deal with a foot injury, Scott has been running 42 kilometres a day, and he plans to keep running until late December, when he hopes the complete “The Run to Live”, a cross-country run from the coast of Newfoundland to the Coast of British Columbia.

Scott was inspired to take on the “Run to Live” when he read the Douglas Coupland book on Terry Fox. But his interest in running goes back further.

Ever since he was a youngster he has loved to run, and throughout his student career at Trent University in Peterborough he has worked at the University Athletic Centre.

Although the run he is engaged in now is taking place on the shoulders of highways, they are not Scott’s favourite running surface. “I really love to run in the woods,” he said during a family reunion of sorts that was held by the side of Highway 7 at the Kaladar Community Centre on August 4.

Pointing to the woods at the edge of the field behind the centre, he said “I could put on a pack, run straight into those woods and spend a day in there.”

He does just that sometimes when he visits his family’s cottage on Ashby Lake.

The route that Scott is taking across Canada mirrors the one taken by Terry Fox, with the Kaladar Community Centre being the closest spot to his family’s summer gathering place, so the family gathered at the centre for a BBQ and visit with friends from the area on what turned out to be a sunny, hot afternoon. It was only later that they noticed there is a marker of the time Terry Fox passed through Kaladar, as he has a prime place in the mural that was painted on the side of the centre several years ago.

Aside from being inspired by Terry Fox's run, Scott Cannata became interested and motivated to extreme athletics a few years ago when he began running longer and longer distances. This culminated in him competing in 100-mile race (which is 8 kilometres shy of 4 consecutive marathon distance races) in September of 2009.

“It took me 27½ hours to complete that run, which was a trail run over difficult terrain. By the end of the night I was staggering through the trail with a flashlight in my mouth to keep on the trail, but when the sun came up I started to feel stronger and began running again. I even passed a few people after that,” he said.

After completing the run, which was in September of 2009, Scott decided he wanted to run across the country. With his girlfriend Meghan as his support team he began planning the trip, a process that took a year and a half. Now, with their lives on hold until the end of the run (Meghan has graduated from Trent and Scott is only one credit away) they are on the road with their trusty truck, camper, and loyal dog, traversing the country. Sponsors have come on board to cover their costs, along with the sale of bracelets, but all the other money they are raising is going to the Canadian Cancer Society.

Scott lost a few pounds at the beginning of the run, and he did suffer that injury that stopped him for six days, but his foot is strong, and he has recovered his pre-race weight. Judging from his demeanour in Kaladar, he seems not to have suffered at all from the rigours of running this far. But there is Northern Ontario, the lonesome Prairies, the Rocky Mountains and the BC interior still to traverse. And it will likely be cold by the time Scott reaches the mountains, but he seems to be game for anything.

“The good thing about running up a mountain is that it gives you short-term goals,” he said.

Breakfast Television - August 10th, 2011

Global News Toronto - August 10th, 2011

Scott Cannata woke up Monday morning and realized he felt like he'd just run a marathon.

"And that's because I had," he said.

And not his first — Cannata has run 78 marathons over the past 99 days as he works his way across Canada, raising funds for cancer research.

It's called The Run To Live.

"My mom has been a huge point of inspiration to me," he said.

Cannata's mother was diagnosed with cancer when he was 12, putting the family through a terrible ordeal, he said. While she survived, he later lost a grandfather to the disease.

These, he said, are experiences most people share.

"Cancer affects everyone," he said.

The Trent University student and athletics centre employee took a different approach to what has become a common fundraising technique.

“Nobody should be put through this. (But) I know that what I’m going through physically and emotionally is nothing compared to (cancer).”marathoner Scott Cannata

Rather than run a straight line across Canada, he runs a marathon — 42.2 kilometres — each day, moving west.The run will work out to be 209 marathons. By the time he reaches Port Renfrew, B.C., in December, Cannata will have run 8,778 kilometres.

Monday's run ended near Bowmanville, at the 3,300-km mark, Cannata said.

But he ran again, generating a big round of applause as he entered Trent University's Justin Chiu Stadium and circled the track for a crowd of more than 200 friends, family and fans.

The welcoming event also included a fundraising barbecue.

"You rock, Scott!" someone yelled from the stands as he greeted master of ceremonies Peter Adams at the podium.

"For most of us, running one marathon is a lifelong dream," said Adams, a former MP. "Scott has been running a marathon a day since he left the Atlantic."

It isn't easy, said Cannata, adding he relies on a primarily vegetarian diet to fuel his daily run.

"Nobody should be put through this," he said.

"(But) I know that what I'm going through physically and emotionally is nothing compared to (cancer)."

So far, The Run To Live has raised $15,000 for cancer research, said Lyndsey Fullman, fundraising co-ordinator for the Canadian Cancer Society in Peterborough.

Funds are more important than ever, she said, adding 20 people are diagnosed with cancer every hour, and eight people die from cancer every hour.

Fullman thanked Cannata for his efforts. He said he isn't done, not by a long shot.

"I want to set the bar higher than that," he said. "In fact, forget the bar. Let's just keep raising money for the cancer fight."

Cannata, who resumes his run Tuesday, said he wanted to issue a challenge to Trent: run a marathon a week, as a group, taking turns doing laps on the Justin Chiu track.

Keep track of it while he's running, he said, "So you can feel what it's like — 105.5 laps gets you a marathon."

Several staffers from the Trent summer day camps program immediately began running the track as Cannata spoke.

“Today is my 75th straight marathon,” says Scott Cannata, reached just outside Caledon, Ont., as the 25-year-old makes his way across the country from St. John’s to Port Renfrew, B.C. Cannata, a 25-year-old anthropology student at Trent University in Peterborough, Ont., had only completed one marathon prior to lacing up his Nikes for a (literal) cross-country run, but he believes that, in general, people have become too timid in terms of their expectations.

“I have lots of time to think on the road in the middle of nowhere, and I believe we create these boundaries and restrictions on our day-to-day actions,” says Cannata, who has adopted his girlfriend’s vegan diet since beginning his run on May 1. “If you can convince yourself that the seemingly impossible is possible, you can absolutely do anything that you like.”

Call it the power of positive thinking or else just runners with loose screws, but as recreational running becomes more popular, extreme running events are gaining more attention, too. The question is: Why would an otherwise rational human being want to run something like the Canadian Death Race, a nasty 125-kilometre trek across the Canadian Rockies?

“If you’re not in the subculture, it’s very difficult to communicate, but I don’t think of ultra-running as something like skydiving,” says Dr. Nick Holt, an associate professor in the Faculty of Physical Education at the University of Alberta, and a two-time finisher of the Death Race (and one-time dropout). Holt describes his Death Race experience in terms similar to how a returning soldier might describe war. He began his race at 8 a.m. and, after running up and down mountains all day, he reached a 6,000-foot cliff at 10 p.m.

“You fight through it when you can barely keep going and there’s a lot of falling over, but I went in with the mantra: ‘I’m just going to keep getting up,’ ”

says Holt, who is currently working on a paper about his experience and training for next year’s race. “You feel worse than you’ve ever felt before, but you have to keep going, and there’s just very few circumstances in life where you have to push forward when every fibre of your body tells you to stop. Once you’re in it, it consumes you.”

Dr. Greg Wells works at the Faculty of Physical Education and Health at the University of Toronto and he calls extreme athletes “outliers.” He says folks such as Scott Cannata and Candace Sutherland, a 17-year-old from Winnipeg who ran across the country last year, are making even recreational runners re-examine what they can do.

“There’s always going to be human beings who push the limits — that’s why we went to the moon,” says Wells, who once spent four months cycling across Africa and specializes in the physiology of extreme athletes. “These people are expanding the notion of what we’re capable of and giving us new answers to the question: ‘How far can we go?’ ”

For Cannata, that question began with a passion to take a stand against cancer. After watching his mother battle through cervical cancer and then his grandfather succumb to the disease, Cannata decided to get involved. Hoping to raise awareness through a grand gesture, he took a page from Terry Fox and headed out across the country. He says that when he gets stiff or tired or has to battle through cramping or bad weather, he makes the race about more than himself. He makes it about all of the people who are battling the disease.

“My mom was diagnosed when I was 12, and watching her go through surgery and radiation treatment and becoming so sick had a really heavy impact on my life,” Cannata says. “Then, when I lost my grandfather, I felt like we’ve got to do something in terms of research and development. If my contribution is calling attention to this, then I can and I will run a marathon every day.”

CHEX Studio 12 Durham - August 9th, 2011

For most people, running one marathon is a challenge. For Scott Cannata, it's a daily routine.

Peterborough native, former Trent student and Trent fitness instructor, Cannata ran his 78th marathon on Monday (Aug. 8) since beginning The Run to Live in May.

The Run to Live is a fundraising effort Cannata and his team thought of as a way to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society.

The inspiration for The Run to Live comes from Cannata's mother who battled the disease and was victorious. She was one of the cancer survivors in attendance during a ceremony at Trent Univeristy's Justin Chiu Stadium on Monday, as Cannata stopped in Peterborough during his cross-country journey.

It began in St. John's, Newfoundland and will end in Port Renfrew, British Columbia.

"We've raised over $15,000 but unfortunately that's not enough," Cannata says, urging the audience to" forget the bar and just keep raising funds and spreading the word."

Cannata received a cheque for $1,250 on behalf of The Run to Live during the ceremony.

Additionally, the president of Trent University, Dr. Steven Franklin, said a few words about Cannata and The Run to Live.

"Trent is honoured to call Scott our own," said Franklin. "Scott is a definitive example of what we mean when we say 'live your education'."

When it was Leal's turn, he shared just how close to home cancer hit for him.

"Cancer for me is indeed very personal", he said before telling the audience that both his older brother and nephew have fought cancer and are now survivors.

Jones echoed what other speakers had said, expressing just how proud the city and county of Peterborough are of Cannata for committing to this cause.

"This is a real hero", he said. I know we'll all be standing up with a great deal of pride.

As for Cannata, he was overwhelmed by the thought of being anyone's hero.

However, after the ceremony concluded and people began buying hamburgers and hot dogs (all proceeds went to The Run to Live), people, young and old, waited in line for as long as it took to shake his hand, give him a hug and tell him just how much he meant to them.

CHEX Newswatch Peterborough - August 8th, 2011

Peterborough Homecoming for "Run to Live"The Trent University Sport and Recreation Centre will be hosting a special homecoming to honour Scott Cannatta, who is running across the country to raise money for cancer research.

Cannata says he is happy to come home to Peterborough and visit with family, friends and the majority of his sponsors.

Scott first arrived in Peterborough on Sunday at 9am, to start his first daily marathon. He will run another marathon today before heading over to Trent for the ceremony at 4PM.

Special guests include MPP Jeff Leal, County Warden J. Murray Jones and Trent University President Dr. Steven Franklin.

A charity BBQ will be held will proceeds going to support Run to Live.

The Run to Live aims to raise funds for the Canadian Cancer Society and will be used specifically for cancer research.

Sunday, Aug. 7 will mark an exciting milestone for Scott Cannata and The Run to Live Campaign.

This will be the runner's first glimpse of Peterborough since beginning his quest to run across Canada on May 1 with the goal of raising awareness and funds for cancer research.

"It's exciting for all of us," says Cannata regarding the campaign's stop in Peterborough.

"We're looking forward to seeing home."

Cannata, 25, and his team began their epic journey across Canada in St John's, Newfoundland. Tuesday marked Cannata's 72nd marathon of the expected 209 he must complete to fulfill his goal of crossing the country, eventually finishing in Port Renfrew, BC.

"The support has been absolutely unreal," says Cannata on the momentum that the run has been gaining.

The Run to Live Facebook page is filled with multiple postings of thanks and gratitude to the supporters that the runner has encountered along the way.

"We are even more motivated as people are getting more involved."

When asked how his body is handling the trek, Cannata maintains that he is doing well, both mentally and physically.

"The body is great," comments the runner.

"I feel healthy."

Early in the run Cannata suffered an injury to his foot that caused him to stop running for nearly a week while his body healed. The runner and his team have allowances in their schedule for not only injuries but vehicle issues.

Flat tires are a common occurrence along the path, as the shoulder of the road is often littered with debris. Cannata takes it all in stride, adding a pinch of humour.

"There's nothing worse than changing a tire in the middle of a marathon."

This positive mindset is one that he maintains throughout each day despite each challenge he faces. Cannata has only taken two days off since leaving Moncton, NB. An impressive feat considering the obvious soreness he must feel at the beginning of each day.

"The discomfort is a small fraction of the hardship that someone who goes through treatment for cancer has to suffer," remarks Cannata.

The Run to Live Campaign will be entering Peterborough midday on Highway 7/Lansdowne Street escorted by some of Peterborough's emergency services vehicles. Their path will continue up Water Street to Parkhill Road, then down George Street and head west along Lansdowne Street out of the city.

People are encouraged to travel along the route with Cannata.

On Aug. 8 the campaign will travel towards Bowmanville, then stop to return to Peterborough for a fundraiser at the Trent University Athletic Centre around 4 p.m., where Cannata will be honoured with speeches from local dignitaries and followed by a BBQ. All proceeds will go to the The Run to Live fund.

"We're hoping to see a lot of Peterborough at the event."

Information for these events can be found at www.theruntolive.com. Donations will be taken roadside or at the Trent Athletic Centre

Maybe it’s because Scott Cannata loves running and has developed a particular passion for distance running over the years, or maybe it’s because his name lends itself to a cross-Canada run. Maybe it’s because he has been touched by cancer within his own family, or maybe it’s because he is a fan of Terry Fox.

Whatever the reason, Scott Cannata decided that this summer and fall he will spend his time running a marathon, 42 kilometres, every day until he makes the entire trek from St. John’s, Newfoundland to Port Renfrew BC, on the Pacific Coast

The run, which is being called “The Run to Live”, has two purposes: to raise awareness of cancer and cancer-related issues, and to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society.

On May 1 Scott set off from the Atlantic coast, along with his girlfriend Megan and their dog Myikka for support. As of early this week, Scott was still in Quebec, nearing the Ontario border on his way to Ottawa. Sometime early next week he should be in the Perth area, around Sharbot Lake on the 3rd and in Kaladar by the 4th of August.

Scott has a local connection. His grandfather, Brian Smale, has a cottage on Ashby Lake. “Knowing Scott and how determined he is, I can definitely see him carrying this run through to the end,” said Brian Smale.

Brian Smale has not been directly involved with the run itself, but has been doing some of the background work, and along with Beverly James, he has been working on setting up a local event on August 4 at the Kaladar Community Centre.

A number of local youth are interested in running along with Scott, and plans are for a public greeting to take place at the community centre at 3 p.m. next Thursday, August 4 and the public is invited to welcome Scott at that time.

Scott should be about 34 kilometres into his daily run at that point, and he will be joined by some local runners for the final eight kilometres of the day. The Kaladar OPP have offered to provide an escort for the party.

“I hope we can put together a good event for Scott in Kaladar,” said Brian Smale, “I know there will be a large greeting for him a few days later when he gets to Peterborough.

Scott Cannata is an Anthropology student at Trent, and a reception is planned at the athletic complex of the University when he gets there later a couple of days after he passes Kaladar.

He's burned through four pairs of running shoes and runs the equivalent of a marathon a day, but Scott Cannata is driven by a desire to do something to fight cancer.

The 25-year-old Trent University physical anthropology student has embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society.

The Run to Live is now on its New Brunswick leg and Cannata expects to be in Fredericton by mid-afternoon today. The Peterborough, Ont., resident started his run May 1 in St. John's, N.L., and expects to end up eight months from now in Port Renfrew, B.C.

"When I was about 12 years old, my mom was diagnosed with cervical cancer and it caused me to grow up too quickly. With two younger sisters, my life as a 12-year-old dramatically changed. Suddenly I had more responsibilities, and beyond that, I had an ever-growing worried feeling about my mom," Cannata said.

"Until such a time as a loved one is put into a situation that compromises their well-being or potentially threatens their life, it is truly difficult to understand. A few years later, I lost my Poppa Cannata (my paternal grandfather) to cancer. This hit my family hard and again I was struck with a feeling of helplessness," he said.

"It is this feeling of helplessness that is driving me to run across Canada ... The only way that I can think of to prevent these circumstances is to cut them off at the source. Let's make a stand and fight back."

Two other Trent University students are with Cannata, serving as his road crew. They raised money and sought out sponsors to raise the money needed to underwrite the costs of his cross-country run so that all the money raised through donations will go to the Canadian Cancer Society for research.

So far, online donations are at $10,500, and cash and cheques received from well-wishers he's met as he runs total $1,000. Cannata is able to issue tax deductible receipts on the spot.

"Every cent we raise on the road goes to the Canadian Cancer Society," he said.

For the last couple of months, Cannata has been starting his daily marathon about mid-morning, but with the hot spell in New Brunswick this week, he's trying to start earlier in the day to avoid the heat.

"Every day I do a marathon, which is 42.2 kilometres," Cannata said. "I've made a commitment to many people and a very special commitment to the people to whom I'm dedicating this run, so I have to basically come out and feed off of that to get myself going each day."

While Cannata loves to run, the pace is gruelling. He's so far been running non-stop and took his first break day in Moncton after doing 30 marathons in a row.

"The only reason we took a day off is because our third crew member flew in from Toronto. It's absolutely exhausting. All I do is eat, sleep and run, basically, but my crew takes phenomenal care of me."

He consumes between 4,000-5,000 calories a day to replenish the energy he's burning off.

"Typically that number should be higher for the length of time that I'm on my feet and running, but I've lost a couple of pounds being out here, which I anticipated. My body is growing accustomed to the mileage in the sense that I'm not needing quite as many calories. I'm starting to burn them a little more efficiently."

Cannata said he's taking care to be well nourished, but he has to knuckle down to meet his goal and that means maintaining his daily marathons.

"We're already going to be getting into some pretty harsh conditions in the mountain pass in the November area, so we don't want to make it any worse on ourselves if we can," Cannata said.

Cannata is running along the Trans-Canada Highway and you may spot him travelling through the capital region today. He plans to run through Woodstock, Perth-Andover, Grand Falls, St. Leonard, St. Basile, Iroquois, Edmundston and St. Jacques before entering Quebec. To learn more about the run or how to donate to the Canadian Cancer Society in support of his efforts, visit his website at www.theruntolive.com.

Trent athletics personal-trainer and student, Scott Cannata began a series of marathons across Canada in Newfoundland on May 1, 2011, to raise awareness, funds and hope for cancer research.

Running through New Brunswick since Tuesday, June 28, the runner is set to enter Moncton to mark Canada Day on July 1.

Mr. Cannata’s goal is to run 42 kilometres per day for 209 days, a total of 8,778 kilometres, via the TransCanada Highway, to the finish in Port Renfrew, British Columbia.

With one credit to go towards his B.Sc, in Anthropology, Mr. Cannata has taken a break from his studies in order to complete his marathon. He has worked at the Trent Community Sport and Recreation Centre since the spring of 2007 and is employed there as a fitness instructor / personal trainer.

Mr. Cannata established the Run to Live to raise cancer research funds for the Canadian Cancer Society.

So far, The Run to Live has raised $10,000. The goal is to raise $5,000 during its leg in New Brunswick before reaching Quebec.

The ‘Run to Live’ mission is to provide hope to those who are affected by cancer and to create a refreshed outlook on our capacity to beat cancer to current and future generations.

"I live to run and I run to live. Now it's time to run so others can live." Scott Cannata

The Run to Live is making its way into New Brunswick on Monday, marking the fourth province on the tour.

The Run to Live is a single individual, Scott Cannata, who is trying to run a marathon a day across Canada to raise funds for cancer research in partnership with the Canadian Cancer Society.

“The support that we have received so far on our cross Canada tour is truly over whelming”, says Cannata. “We could not be more grateful to all of the people that have opened up their homes to us in the past few weeks as well as the lodging businesses who have donated rooms for us to sleep at night. While running a marathon a day, these people and businesses have definitely made a huge difference in our travels. As we move onto New Brunswick, we continue to look forward to meeting new people and spreading the word to help us raise more funds and awareness for cancer research for the Canadian Cancer Society.

“I am doing this for you, I am doing this for your parents and your children, I am doing this for those who have not survived, I am doing this for those who have survived and for those who WILL survive. I live to run and I run to live, now it’s time to run so others can live,” he adds.

Cannata running across Canada so others can live Everyone has their reason to give, and a way to go about it.

At the age of 12, Mr. Cannata was handed the news that his mother had cervical cancer. His two sisters were four and six.

During a time when kids his age are excited at the prospect of becoming a teenager, Mr. Cannata remembers having a deep concern for his mother.

A few years later, the Ontario native lost his grandfather to cancer. The loss hit his family hard, and they were again dealing with a sense of helplessness.

Now an adult, Mr. Cannata decided to raise awareness and funds to help fight the disease that’s had such a huge impact on his life.

Along with his support team, which includes girlfriend Meghan Baird, cousin Keith MacNeil and nine-year-old dog Myikka, Mr. Cannata is running across Canada to turn that sense of helplessness into something positive through the cause, Run to Live.

The team made stops in Gambo and Gander recently, where Mr. Cannata was dealing with a nagging foot injury. However, the avid runner said nothing will stop him from reaching British Columbia.

“There are so many people out there who follow us on Facebook (1,514 as of May 23), so that’s 1,500 people I owe this to, and that community is growing,” he said from a tiny RV last week. “This isn’t about me…I owe it to them and everybody out there who’s going to benefit from the money we raise, and the people we’re going to meet along the way. We want to share our stories with them and help them fight their own battles.”

The idea to run across Canada came to Mr. Cannata in September 2009. He had just finished a running event and figured he should use his ability to run long distances to help others. Memories of his mother and grandfather quickly flooded his memory, and the idea to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society soon followed.

He shared his idea with some of his closest friends, who immediately supported it. A year-and-a-half later, Mr. Cannata found himself in St. John’s, 7,201 kilometres away from his final destination of Port Renfrew, B.C.

“This isn’t about me…I owe it to them and everybody out there who’s going to benefit from the money we raise, and the people we’re going to meet along the way.” - Scott Cannata

His journey began May 1, and he hopes to be running in Port Renfrew by the end of November.

He said the support he’s received from the people of Newfoundland and Labrador has been extremely helpful, and in typical Newfoundland and Labrador fashion, hospitable.

“Every single person we’ve talked to has been extremely open to it and excited about it…everybody we’ve met have been fantastic,” said Mr. Cannata. “We have a friend travelling with us in a second convoy, and he asked someone for directions to a good place to eat breakfast. That person said, ‘my house. Come on over.’ I love that story. We tell it to everyone.”

The people in the second convoy are Jon Reay-Laidler and Steven Moore, who were with Mr. Cannata and his crew last week at a local parking lot in Gander.

It was a bitterly cold evening, but the mood was warm in the team’s tiny RV.

Afterall, Mr. Cannata only has to think about his mother for inspiration when running 42 km a day.

She is currently cancer-free.

“It’s a tough age for a parent to bring home that news. It really hit me pretty hard,” he said. “She went through the treatments, had radiation, and has been clear of it since. Because it affected me so much, I’ll never forget it. She’s still with us because of the treatment, technology, and science that’s out there. This is my way of giving back.”

Those interested can follow Mr. Cannata and his crew by visiting their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/theruntolive, and can learn more about the cause by visiting www.theruntolive.com.

Donations can be made through the Run to Live website, or by visiting Mr. Cannata’s crew anywhere along their route to B.C.

mmolloy@ganderbeacon.ca

Peterborough This Week - May 18th, 2011

Injury interrupts Cannata's run across Canada Trent U student back on the road after an ankle injury set his cross-country journey back six days (PETERBOROUGH) They say a journey of a thousand miles starts with single step but on a cold overcast Newfoundland morning, Trent University student Scott Cannata began his by dipping his toe in the Atlantic Ocean.

Cannata, 25, began the Run To Live on May 1 in St. John's, following the path ran by Terry Fox. He has dedicated the next seven months of his life to not only raising funds but also raisng hope for the search for a cure. However, by day three, his mission to run across Canada stumbled with a foot injury near Clarenville, Newfoundland. The injury, a sprained ligament in his right foot, began bothering him near the end of his third marathon. The shoulder of the highway is soft and littered with rocks. Cannata attributes the sprain to "one too many of those rocks."

The pain eventually forced him to stop at the halfway point on day four, where he proceeded to a local hospital for an x-ray.

The prognosis was good: no fracture but that didn't ease the aggravation at suffering a setback so early in the campaign.

"You always have to expect it (an injury)", says Cannata, having participated in the sport for most of his life.

"There is an element of frustration."

After a six-day rest to heal, Cannata began his run again Saturday.

He and his team are aiming to be through the communities of Grand Falls-Windsor and Gander in the coming week where they will meet with local Cancer Society representatives, the mayor of Grand Falls-Windsor and visit a cancer treatment centre. Many stops such as this are planned along the route.

The Run To Live campaign's goal is as lofty as the magnitude of Cannata's endeavour -- to raise $2 for every Canadian for cancer research. He's motivated by the success of those before him. specifically Fox, whose legacy has helped raise millions for cancer research.

Cannata participated in the Terry Fox runs at his Pickering high school.

Inspired by his mother's battle with cancer when he was 12 years old, he would write his mother's name on his shoes and dedicate his runs to her.

He is continuing this tradition by taking dedications from the families of cancer victims and survivors and carrying them with him on the marathons he runs.

"It's impossible to not to think about the whole run as a single entity; as any runner knows, you don't go about a challenge as big as this all at once," he explains when discussing the run.

He looks at each marathon separately, evaluating the road ahead down to his next five or six steps. Like each step, each dollar raised will put the Run To Live campaign closer to its goal of $60 million and Cannata closer to the end of his journey in Port Renfrew, B.C.

The Run To Live schedule will put Cannata and his team in Peterborough in mid to late July.

Run To Live bracelets are available to purchase to assist in the fundraising. They can be found at the Trent Athletics Centre and All Creatures Great and Small.